Much like elites on the East Coast did with the Clintons, no one seemed to know anything about the misdeeds of power brokers until they are of no use, then it is time to proverbially throw them under the bus. In Hollyweird, it is apt to label it as Good Willful Ignorance Hunting.

"The Mooch's" animus against Steve Bannon and sticking the Establishment in the eye is nothing new. During his ten day tenure in the White House communication shop, Anthony Scaramucci angled to distance President Trump from the likes of Steve Bannon.

After the GOP defeat in the Alabama Senate Special Election, and with Republicans holding a slim one seat majority in the Senate for the remainder of the 115th Congress, perhaps "The Mooch" is trying to guide the Trump Administration to work work cooperatively with Wall Street Democrats to get things done.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Women to Look Up To, a London based company, is producing some eye catching tree toppers in an effort to give tree toppers a feminist makeover. Among the choices of real women their voters deemed "worthy of wings" for their 3D printed ornaments is Hillary Clinton.

As a puckish political animal living in the District of Calamity whose W.C. is a Political Room adored with cheeky tchochtki, a Hillary tree topper might be welcomed for the Federal Christmas Tree. However, this tree topper costs eighty quid, which can tot up to $120. If I were inclined to air grievances between the beltways, it would be more economical to erect an aluminum pole for Festivus.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

The national attention was drawn to the Senate floor for remarks by Senator Al Franken (D-MN). After the eight woman accused Franken of inappropriate sexual misconduct, with a damning photo from a 2005 USO tour, much of the Senate Democrat caucus urged him to resign.

Al Franken on 2005 USO Tour

Yet during Franken's speech, he neither sounded contrite nor did he really resign

Franken's joke resignation was promised to be in a few weeks. Franken then proceeded to cudgel Republican President Donald Trump and Roy Moore over unproven allegations of sexual misconduct as well as as touting his progressive feminist political stances.

Perhaps Franken's decision depends on whether Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (R-AL) wins the December 12th special election and is seated in the Senate. When the heat is off, Franken may choose not to hurl himself into the fire.

Franken's resignation was intended to give Democrats the high ground and to echo Fox News' Brit Hume: "Make Roy Moore into a Republican hood ornament". But will offering a scrappy defense and not immediately resigning accomplish that political objective?

Franken insisted that he would be vindicated of wrongdoing during his service in the Senate by the Senate Ethics Committee. That is a good bet because that body never expels members. It is a place to bury allegations of wrongdoing.

Time will tell if the delayed departure will accomplish the Democrat political objectives or it will cloud their campaigns against their electoral opponents.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

One week before the Alabama Senate election to replace Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who left the comforts of the Senate to be President Trump's Attorney General, there are still Republicans who are trying to manipulate the race.

The appointed replacement Senator Luther Strange (R-AL), who had the backing of Beltway Establishment and President Trump, was defeated in the primaries by former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore (R-AL).

Since then, the Washington Post has been printing bombshell reports that Moore had indecent relations with minors and had a penchant for dating teenagers when he was a 34 year old Assistant District Attorney. Even though Moore had been in the spotlight for nearly forty years and never had such allegations come to light, partisans on both sides agitated over these accusations.

Democrats saw the Moore allegations as a way to make trouble and pick up an unexpected Senate seat. They will paint Moore's continued presence in the race with Republicans being creepy child molesters and pair him with Donald Trump. Alabama Law does not allow for substitute candidates, so if Moore dropped out at this point (or there was a write in effort), it creates trouble and still gives Democrats a chance to have virtual control of the 115th Congress (with a united 49 seat Democrat minority).

Republican Party partisans fear that they might lose an otherwise dependable seat, so they sought to either have Moore drop out or have a credible Republican write in option. The latter strategy would have party bosses choose the candidate thereby mooting the voice of the voters in Alabama. There are few instances in successful Senate write in candidates, and the exception to the rule was Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in 2010, an incumbent who had plenty of time to run as a write-in. Even so, there were problems with misspelling and discerning voter intent. Centrist Republican media personality Hugh Hewitt suggested that if Senator Strange resigned, it would preclude the 12/12 special election and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) could appoint another substitute Senator until November 2018. That did not happen.

The Republican National Committee and the Republican National Senate Committee had withdrawn support from Roy Moore to disassociate themselves with the candidate and possibly nudge him to step aside. But the Alabama GOP and Governor Ivey stuck by Moore, even with the unsavory allegations. At first, President Trump just did negative campaigning against Democrat Senate candidate Doug Jones (D-AL). One week before the special election, Trump gave full support. Senator McConnell relented as did the RNC.

Senator Thune's (R-SD) cri-de-coeur on Cavuto epitomizes the Establishment's animus against Roy Moore. Even before he is elected, the GOP leaders threaten an ethics probe. Does the Republican Senate leadership just want to maintain a whiter than snow aura to them? Could Roy Moore's social conservative politics have anything to do with last minute appeals discouraging voting for the firebrand. Perhaps Moore's vow not to continue support for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have something to do with the cable TV hit?

Roy Moore may be a lightning rod in the District of Calamity in 2018. Democrats will want to run on character assassination and majority ineptitude. Establishment Republicans want to keep power but not rock the boat, thus it is to the GOP Senate leadership's advantage to keep a firebrand out of office, even if it means having a virtually divided Senate.

Alabama was one of the states which rocketed candidate Donald Trump to the Republican Presidential nomination. This conservative state filled with old time religion embraced the flawed character of Mr. Trump. Pollster George Barna postulated that SAGE-Cons (Spiritually Aware Governmentally Active Conservatives) looked beyond the human flaws of Trump to see someone who now embraces their core beliefs and one who is willing to shake up the system of get things done.

During a symposium on "Anti-Semitism and
the Struggle for Justice” at the New School in New York City, progressive political agitator deigned to comment on Anti-Semitism. Sarsour tried to mitigate mainstream perceptions of Muslims in America by blaming "the Jewish Media".

Her prepared remarks at the New School did little to dispel myths about how her faith is practiced.

Proponents of Net Neutrality, which were protesting a repeal in May at FCC Headquarters moved their protests to Chairman Pai's suburban Virginia home and used signs which proclaimed "Dad murdered democracy in cold blood."Such an in-your-face political protest calls to mind the 2012 stunt in which the SEIU used 14 buses to move 500 protesters on a bank executive's front lawn in suburban Maryland to denounce bank foreclosures. This tactic seems straight out of Saul Alinky's Rules for Radicals (1971) playbook.The Net Neutrality home invasion comes at the same time that Keith Olbermann is stepping down from giving the GQ daily podcasts for "The Resistance".It is worth contemplating if this mark a divergence in tactics amongst Leftists, or if more entrenched progressives are getting out of activism while the getting is good.Nonetheless, it is reprehensible to harass public officials living in private residences about policy disputes. Mob mentality following people home discourages civic minded civilians from serving a stint in office and needlessly involves innocent family members.Net Neutrality may have legitimate public policy merits, but the fascistic manner which these progressive activists pursued their policy wins neither hearts nor minds.

Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was caught on a hot mike opining that if Republicans continued on a political path towards anti-Establishment Donald Trump that the GOP was toast.

This personal animus against President Trump did not go unanswered on Twitter.

Earlier in the year, Senator Flake was hawking a book "The Conscience of a Conservative" (2017) which echoed the title of his Arizona predecessor (1960) Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ). This sort of self promotion is often the precursor for a politician who is seeking higher office. Yet Flake was convinced not to run again in 2018. Since then, Flake has reveled at being a gladfly against the Trump Administration.

While it would be hard to quibble with Flake being a Republican, it is egregious to appreciate him being a quintessential conservative. Senator Flake's hot mic moment might better be understood how Establishment Republicans see how the comfort of being go along to get along hacks who talk a good game on the hustings but become docile in the District of Calamity.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

The revelation of sexual misconduct by Hollywood's Harvey Weinstein has transitioned to the District of Calamity. Accusations of sexual impropriety threatens to swing two Senate seats and effect the balance of power on Capitol Hill.Much has been made about allegations of skivvy conduct by Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore (R-AL). These accusations stem from conduct nearly four decades ago that were unreported to authorities, but came to light in the closing days of a special election to fill the seat vacated by now Trump Administration Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The alluvia of allegations sound bad, but are past the statute of limitations, based she-said-he-said allegations with little to no corroborating evidence and relies upon the court of public opinion.

From a political standpoint, Democrats are anxious to make Roy Moore a poster child for Republicans in 2018 and use the hermaneutic that Republicans condone sexual harassment as a cudgel to impeach President Donald Trump if Democrats regain the House of Representatives. In the near term, the muck about Moore put the White House in a box. On the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, establishment Republicans did not like a loose cannon like Judge Moore to be in the Senate chambers, when it endangers the clubby atmosphere of the Upper Chamber and he could help shake up the leadership. So many GOP party loyalists were quick to condemn Moore for the alleged but unproven misconduct.There are concerns that Republicans might lose this previously considered "safe" seat, as Moore is polling with a double digit deficit after these allegations have been publicized. Since candidate Moore refuses to step aside due to this scandal, the DC GOP suggested writing in another Republican. Apparently, this did not test well and was dropped. After a careful reading of the Alabama state statutes, centrist Republican Hugh Hewitt claims that the problem could go away if Senator Luke Strange (R-AL) resigned, creating a new vacancy which would cancel the shaky December 12th election, and Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) could appoint another caretaker Senator until the next general election (in November 2018). Considering the shaky ground Jeff Sessions is in at the Department of Justice, it is possible that Sessions be appointed back to his own seat.

Recently, after a pleasant Sunday brunch, we chatted about the troubling news about Roy Moore. As the topic expanded to include sexual harassment by elected officials, two ardent feminists insisted that Congress needed to do something about it and make offenders on Capitol Hill as accountable as the rest of us. I asked who were their bosses. The obvious answer was the people. I maintained that voters get to fire their elected officials periodically and they should decide rather than an insider committee. That viewpoint was not well received.Well, it seems that when Congress pushed to make the same rules apply to them as their constituents, there were a few quirks. Regarding charges of sexual harassment with members of staffers, there is 30 day waiting period before pressing charges. In addition, the victim making the accusation must undergo mandatory counseling. That sounds munificent, except the counseling comes from the employer whom someone is accusing. It would seem that it could be made clear to accusers that going public would not be in anyone's best interests. If I recall correctly, John Batchelor's news-maker interview indicated that this system has paid out $15 million since its advent in the 105th Congress with nary a word making the press.

Congressional Sexual Misconduct payout ledger

What took party hacks off their sexual harassment game plan was the revelation by a Los Angeles radio personality of Al Franken's inappropriate conduct during a USO mission to the Middle East in 2006, before he was elected as Senator from Minnesota. The woman reported that she was supposed to do a skit written by Franken that involved a kiss and wanted to rehearse-- she demurred but eventually consented. During the practice, she alleged that Franken put his tongue halfway down her throat and grabbed her head. She immediately insisted "Don't do that again!", and she deflected his approach during the skit.

The problem with sexual conduct and Al Franken is about the contemporaneous photographic evidence. The woman in question wanted to grab some rack time during the 36 hour military flight. When she was asleep, Franken was seen with a coprophagic grin cupping at her breasts. No doubt, Franken thought this was funny at the time (and probably a great way to get back at her). Franken has been known to take outrageous photos for laughs (but the infamous Franken diaper photo was a fake).

Citizen Al Franken takes a picture with a sleeping beauty during a 2016 USO tour.

But this Al Franken moment was captured on camera. Oops. And the accuser is Leeane Tweeden, a KABC-AM radio personality. Tweeden initially posted #MeToo, but she decided to come forth after hearing Congresswoman Speier's (D-CA 14th) allegations that members on both side of the aisle have thrust sexual advances while in Congress.Now this puts a kink into progressive partisans' plans. One of their prominent members stands accused. The public has been primed to always accept the word of victims. In addition, there is photographic proof. This takes away from the rip the GOP as blanket sexual predator smear. Rush Limbaugh points out that in this environment, Democrats will have to proverbially throw Senator Franken (D-MN) under the bus to not to seem hypocritical and prospectively use it against their ideological opponents. Franken publicly apologized to his victim, claiming that he thought that it was funny. In addition, Franken submitted himself to scrutiny from his peers. Maybe this gets it out of the headlines and it gets buried by the press. If push comes to shove, Minnesota has a Democrat Governor Mark Dayton (D-MN), so Franken would undoubtedly be replaced by another Democrat. While justice is a noble pursuit, in this charged environment, the court of public opinion may well condemn non-guilty people just based on innuendo or unproven accusations which are promptly swept under the rug out of convenience. The reform from the 105th Congress seems to allow members to slide, in a process intended to apply the peoples' law to Congress. Although there are Ethics Committees to punish members egregious actions, I suspect that the ballot box is still the most efficacious way to punish when swamp rats act like dirty rats.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Katy Tur's crude commentary on Recode on the one year anniversary of the election of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States sounds less like a reporter and more like an agenda driven "Jo-Whore-nalist".

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Conservative entertainment activist Phelim Mc Aleer held the World Premiere of his 2015 play "Ferguson the Play" in New York City . The drama depicts the shooting of Michael Brown by a greater St. Louis police officer in 2014 which sparked several days of rioting. This ugly incident which galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement under the ersatz slogan "Hands up, don't shoot." Mc Aleer wrote the play because he believed that the truth that it was a defensive shooting was not getting out because of media bias buying into a progressive activist agenda.

What made Ferguson the play notable is that playwright McAleer constructed the verbatum theater completely using the released transcript of the Ferguson Grand Jury. McAleer and director Jerry Dixon worked with a multi-racial cast to put on the controversial courtroom drama for a short run at the 30th Street Playhouse in Manhattan.On the closing night, Cedric Benjamin commadeered the stage at the close to voice his displeasure as he thought that the play was unbalanced and biased.

Director Jerry Dixon shut down the rogue actor's rant, but the histrionic polemic spilled out into the street, with actor Benjamin accusing playwright Mc Aleer of "white arrogance".

Ironically, Cedric Benjamin's grand gesture might prove to be counterproductive. It has drawn more attention to a small production, thrusting it into the news. Phelim Mc Aleer continues to fund raise over the controversy with an expressed purpose of continuing to perform Ferguson the Play in New York. Mc Aleer took great consolation that one BLM attendee who attended the play and left shocked and mystified that "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" was a lie.Pollster George Barna recently sought to understand why evangelical Christians supported Donald Trump, who seemed to contradict many of their mores. A large part of the answer is that SAGE-cons (Spiritually Aware Governmentally Engaged) conservatives have great distrust in the mainstream (a.ka. lamestream) media because of biased reporting against Trump that they now use alternate media sources to avoid "fake news". By banding together on core issues like rule of law, Barna contends that this 11% sliver of of the American electorate voting for Donald Trump was "The Day Christians Change America" (2017).The strength of SAGE-cons influencing America was shown more than for Election 2016. The informal boycotts by football fans of the NFL as they tolerate players who Take A Knee during the National Anthem has severely cut into attendance along with television ratings and is influencing advertisers like Papa John's Pizza to pull back. Such a motivated minority of SAGE-cons may well see Ferguson the Play as a chance to actuate their ideas and counter the "fake news" phenomenon in entertainment as well as cultural conceits.